I saw Mama kissing Santa Claus
by puppylover-MCP
Summary: Six-year-old Annabelle wanders downstairs to get her doll and finds an exciting (to her) sight. Set two years after An Arendellian Family (Crazy!) Christmas.


**A/N Short drabble based on the song, with the slight change of 'Mama' instead of** **'Mommy'.**

Princess Annabelle of Arendelle couldn't sleep. The six-year-old sighed as she stared up the the dark ceiling. She sat up and glanced across the room where her older sister was sleeping. That was probably part of the reason why Annabelle couldn't sleep. Eleven-year-old Kristina always snored in her sleep, and although Annabelle was used to it by now, it was still annoying. The snoring was even louder and worse tonight because Kristina was still recovering from a cold she had caught several days ago, so her nose was stuffy and worsened her snoring as a result.

Annabelle slowly crawled out from under her blankets and set her bare feet on the cold floor. She squeaked in surprise as the temperature and her toes made contact before softly padding over to her toy chest to collect her favorite doll, hoping it would help her fall asleep better. But the doll, Lucy, wasn't there. Annabelle then remembered that she had taken it downstairs earlier when she, Kristina, and fourteen-year-old Elson had been playing with the latter's magic in the ballroom. She must have left it there. Groaning in annoyance, Annabelle went over to her bedroom door and eased it opened, peaking out into to see if the coast was clear. Satisfied, the young princess crept out into the hallway.

On her way down to the ballroom, Annabelle passed the library, and was surprised to see the door standing open slightly. Annabelle nudged it open a little more so that she could poke her head inside, and instantly gasped at what she saw. Doll forgotten, the princess turned and made a beeline back upstairs to her aunt's bedroom. When she reached it, she knocked quickly and waited for a response.

A moment later, the door opened a little to reveal the Protecter of the Enchanted Forest, who was staying for a week to celebrate Christmas with her family once again. Elsa gasped at the sight of Annabelle. "Give me one second, and don't come in!" She quickly shut the door, and lots of rustling could be heard. After a minute the door opened again, wider this time, and Elsa motioned for her youngest niece to come inside.

"What are you doing, Auntie Elsa?" Annabelle asked as she skipped into the room, noticed the rolls of wrapping paper.

Elsa shut the door and smiled mysteriously. "It's Christmas Eve, Annie. I was finishing up some surprises. Why are you awake? And no, don't give me your mother's 'the sky's awake!' line."

"I couldn't sleep," Annabelle replied. "But guess what I saw?" She jumped up and down, barely suppressing her squeals.

"I won't know until you tell me."

"I saw Mama kissing Santa Claus!" the youngest princess announced excitedly.

Elsa raised her eyebrow in surprise. "Oh really? Is that so?"

Annabelle nodded. "Yup! Santa was even holding up the kissy-plant."

"You mean mistletoe?"

"Yeah, that!"

The corner of Elsa's mouth twitched in amusement. She didn't have the heart to dampen the young girl's excitement. "Well then, I guess you'd better tell your Papa about it tomorrow. He might not like it that your mother's kissing someone besides him."

"Okay," Annabelle responded. "Auntie Elsa, will you please tell me a bedtime story?"

"Sure! What kind?"

"How 'bout when you and Mama were little?"

Elsa smiled and walked over to her bed, sitting down and then turning so she could lean against the pillows. She patted the spot beside her in the center of the bed, and Annabelle happily ran over and climbed up before snuggling against her aunt. "I'll tell you a story, Annie, but you have to promise me that you'll go to bed when I'm done."

Annabelle nodded solemnly. "I will."

Leaning her head back against the pillows, Elsa closed her eyes as her mind drifted back to times long ago. "Alright, Annie. Have I ever told you about when your mother was born?" Annabelle shook her head. "Well, I'm going to now. I was three-and-a-half at the time, so I didn't really understand what was going on, but I did know that I was going to be a big sister." She paused and chuckled slightly. "That line had been repeated to me over and over for months, and I was growing tired of hearing it. Anyway, it was past supper time when my father came to collect me. He took me downstairs to where my mother was-and my new sister. When I first caught sight of your mother, all I could do was wrinkle my nose and say 'What is that?'. I had never seen a baby before, so this tiny bundle with a bright red, wrinkled face and an even brighter patch of red hair was completely foreign to me. But all she had to do was yawn, and it was so adorable that I was won over instantly. I told her that I was her big sister Elsa and that we were going to be best friends."

"Aww!" Annabelle piped up.

Elsa laughed a little and hugged her niece closer. "I'm sorry to say that my opinion quickly changed when she started keeping the castle up at night with her crying. I even went so far as to wish that she'd go away forever. But then, one night during a thunder storm, I changed my mind. She was crying because she was scared, and it was one of the most heartbreaking things ever. I used my powers to calm her down, and her reaction was so sweet and adorable that it melted my heart. After that, we were the best of friends. To this day, I'm not actually sure if that was good or bad, at least on the servants' parts. Oh, the trouble we'd cause!" Elsa paused a moment and giggled at the memories. "I remember this one incident where Anna and I faked a letter from the king or Corona to my father…"

Ten minutes later, Annabelle was sound asleep. Smiling, Elsa picked up her niece and carried the young girl to her bedroom. "Goodnight, my little butterfly," Elsa whispered as she gently tucked Annabelle into bed. Annabelle responded by smiling in her sleep. That was when Elsa noticed Lucy, Annabelle's doll, sitting on the corner of the mattress. The princess hadn't left it in the ballroom after all; she had simply failed to see it in the dim light. Elsa picked up the doll and carefully slipped it into her niece's hand. The six-year-old proceeded to roll over and clutch the doll to her chest.

Smiling, Elsa walked out of the bedroom, closed the door, and walked back to her own room to finish her present-wrapping.

0o0o0o0o

The next afternoon, Arendelle's royal family was having breakfast in the dining room when Annabelle remembered what she'd seen. "Papa! Guess what?"

"Yeah?" Kristoff replied, glancing up from his plate, his voice muffled a bit from the bite of biscuit in his mouth. Thanks to a scolding slap on the arm from Anna, he swallowed before continuing. "What was it?"

"I saw Mama kissing Santa Claus!"

Kristoff almost choked on his food, as did Elsa, Anna, Elson, and Kristina. "You did?"

"Yup! Underneath the missy-toe last night!"

"Mistletoe," Elsa corrected, her eyes shine with mirth.

"What she said!" Annabelle continued. "Mama, you're gonna be in big trouble with Papa now."

"Oh I am, am I?" the queen of Arendelle asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, 'cause Papa doesn't like it when you kiss somebody that's not him! Auntie Elsa said so!"

Anna then turned toward her sister, both of her eyebrows now up. "Elsa? You know about this?" Elsa responded with a shrug and an innocent look, although her shoulders were shaking from suppressed laughter.

"Well, all I can say is that Santa definitely picked the prettiest woman in the world," Kristoff said, shooting his wife a teasing smile. Anna elbowed him, but she was smiling.

A few minutes later, since she was the first to finish her food, Annabelle asked to be excused and then ran off to play with Olaf and her Christmas presents. The rest of the royal family, left behind, burst into laughter.

"I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but that was amusing," Elson spoke up when the laughter had quieted.

"Yeah, what exactly happened last night?" Kristina asked. "I'm old enough to know that Santa's not real."

Anna and Kristoff looked at each other and dissolved into laughter again. A moment later, they stopped and Anna wiped the tears from her eyes. "Oh, boy. Well, you see that was your father with me, not some random guy. We were down there arranging gifts under the tree, and the day before I had thought about how much more festive it would be if Kristoff was dressed up as Santa while delivering presents. Because of that, I decided to-"

"-buy me a red bathrobe with white fur, a Santa hat, and a fake white beard," Kristoff finished, grumbling.

"So are we going to tell her?" Elson asked.

The royals looked at each other. None had the heart to spoil Annabelle's dreams. "Not now," Elsa finally said. "We'll tell her the story when she's older." Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Until then, this is yours to keep!" Anna said with a wicked grin as she held up a white beard and Santa hat. Kristoff groaned and slammed his head down on the table, face-planting into what was left of his biscuits and gravy. And with a slight giggle from Anna, the laughter began again.


End file.
